U.S. considers retreat from no-fly zones after failed strikes

WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration is reviewing a plan to significantly reduce U.S. and British patrols of no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq.

Officials said the plan presented to the Pentagon is based on the assessment that Iraqi anti-aircraft capability could eventually shoot down a U.S. or British warplane. The administration has also concluded that the overflights are hurting Washington's drive to maintain even limited international sanctions on Baghdad.

Last month, U.S. and British warplanes attacked anti-aircraft sites around Baghdad in an attempt to stop the linking of batteries to radar systems. The Iraqi project, carried out by Chinese technicians, was said not to have been affected by the allied bombing.

Officials said the British have complained that their warplanes are particularly vulnerable to Iraqi missile attack. They cited the lack of British electronic warfare planes to jam Iraqi radar.

The administration plan was outlined to Congress during a closed hearing by the House Appropriations defense subcommittee last week. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, outlined reports that he and other military advisers are presenting to the administration.

Franks was said to have told the committee that Washington will continue to ensure that Iraq does not violate the no-fly zones or produce weapons of mass destruction. But the effort would not rely on such routines as daily air patrols over Iraq.

"As part of this approach to the problem, we would also make sure that the Iraqi regime understood that we reserve the right to strike militarily any activity out there, any facility we find that is inconsistent with their obligations to get rid of such weapons of mass destruction," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week.